That's the old Persian name for Sri Lanka. My wife was born there, so it was natural that eventually we would visit. We did in 2001. (OK, it was really 2000.
I couldn't resist.) It was nice having a native speaker as a guide!
Clicking on the monkey will transport you to another site with snaps from our trip.
My wife's great uncle was involved in the move to independence from Britain in 1948, risking his life for what was considered treason.
In 1960, Sirimavo Bandaranaike became the world's first female prime minister. In 1972 the name changed from Ceylon to Sri Lanka.
Since 1983 this beautiful country has been blighted by an "on-and-off civil war, predominantly between the government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE, also known as the Tamil Tigers), a separatist militant organization who fight to create an independent state named Tamil Eelam in the North and East of the island."
Wikipedia Tens of thousands have been killed. There are still regular bombings in the capital city Colombo.
Natural disaster added to the man-made one in 2004 with the tsunami.
Serendipity. The faculty of making fortunate discoveries by accident. From the characters in the Persian fairy tale The Three Princes of Serendip, who made such discoveries.
